Indian ministers resign over viewing porn in state parliament

Three state ministers from southern India, including one holding a portfolio for women and child development, quit on Wednesday after being accused of watching porn in the local assembly.

The ministers from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were filmed by television cameras watching graphic footage on their mobile phones on Tuesday while other lawmakers in the house were debating legislation.

In the footage, the ministers were seen watching a woman dancing, undressing and then engaging in a sexual act. They passed their mobile phones amongst themselves.

"We have resigned to avoid embarrassment to our party and not give the opposition an opportunity to disrupt the assembly proceedings today," state minister for cooperation Laxman Savadi told reporters.

"We were watching a clipping of an incident for a discussion on the rave parties held at St. Mary's Island (on the western coast of Karnataka). It was not a porn clip."

Karnataka's minister for women and child development, C C Patil, and the minister for ports and fishery Krishna Palemar also stepped down.

"It's a shameless act. The three ministers have submitted their resignation. We will set up an inquiry committee to probe the incident," said BJP spokeswoman Nirmala Sitharaman in New Delhi.

Reacting to the sex video incident, a leader of the national ruling Congress party, Kapil Sibal, who is also telecom minister, said the BJP should "introspect" before they preach morality in public life.

Teacher charged for fondling students

Martin Bernard Springer, 49, of Alhambra, California, was fired after he was formally charged with three felony counts of lewd acts upon a girl under age 14.

The Los Angeles Unified School District board on Tuesday fired Miramonte Elementary School teacher Springer.

Springer was arrested on Friday and accused of fondling two girls in the classroom, but Tuesday's charges involve only one alleged victim.

The three counts against Springer involve one girl who was identified only as "Jane Doe" and "under the age of 14 years."

The complaint alleged the crimes occurred in April, May and June of 2009.

Springer pleaded not guilty late Tuesday afternoon to three felony counts of lewd acts.

The judge set his bail at $300,000 on the condition that Springer stay more than 250 feet away from witnesses and alleged victims, stay more than 100 feet away from any school or facility with children and be with an adult supervisor when he's around children.

Springer's preliminary hearing is scheduled for February 16. CNN reported, if convicted, Springer would face a maximum state prison term of 12 years, prosecutors said.

Springer was the second teacher at Miramonte charged with lewd conduct with pupils.

Last week, former Miramonte teacher Mark Berndt, 61, was arrested and accused of taking bondage photos of more than two dozen students in his classroom, including some with suspected semen-filled spoons at their mouths.

Designer coffins for the dead

As if dying was not enough now the dead can have fancy treatment after death.

An exhibition in London is approaching death with a lighter heart by displaying some very unusual coffin designs.

Now you can get designer custom made coffins to be used after death.

Fabulous coffins from the UK and Ghana features caskets shaped like vintage Mercedes, a lion, a corkscrew and even a ballet pump.

The show was inspired, according to the UK Design Week blog, by Ghanian designer Paa Joe, who first begin making unusual coffins in 1951 when he laid his own mother to rest in one shaped like an aeroplane because she had never managed to take a flight on one during her lifetime.

Some coffins on display at the Royal Festival Hall show a sled-shaped coffin commissioned by Richard Mullard who wants to get buried with his skis on, reports The Journal.